Kitten Trapped In Locked And Flooded Car During Hurricane

Gregory Pletcher, Austin Summers, and Cameron Shiakh were out rescuing and helping people after Hurricane Harvey hit. He heard a cry for help while he was out on a boat with his friends.

“We were making our way through an apartment complex when we heard a cat meowing,” Pletcher said. At first, they couldn’t figure out where the tiny cries were coming from. The lower level apartments were under 2 feet of water. There was just one more possibility. A car was part way under water and locked from the inside.

“There was no way to get to the cat without breaking a window,” Pletcher said. The men decided to do just that. “As we were standing in waist-deep water, I asked Austin (Summers) to hand me my boat anchor. With one good swing of the anchor, I was able to bust a hole in the window,” Pletcher explained.

Then they unlocked the car door and released the hood. They found the frightened kitten sitting on top of the engine. “I grabbed him before he had a chance to crawl down between anything and set him in the boat. Once I crawled back in the boat, I picked him up and set him down inside my life vest. He rode in there for about an hour before he calmed and became comfortable enough to come out and explore,” Pletcher said.

Shiakh’s daughter has been asking for a kitten. The family dog had died during the hurricane. The timing of the rescue was perfect. “She has been asking for a kitten, so he took him home,” Pletcher said. They named the kitten Harvey. “Harvey now lives in Montgomery, Texas,” Pletcher reports.

Pletcher and his friends have continued rescuing animals just like Harvey. They don’t plan to stop anytime soon. “It’ll be a long process to get these individuals back in homes, but we’re going to make sure they have the essentials they need in the meantime,” Pletcher explained. “Just trying to help animals and humans alike.”